De-ethnicisation, De-masculinisation and Re-vitalisation of the Ubuntu Paradigm for Sustainable African Development

Africa is in dire need of sustainable endogenous development perspectives geared at addressing the plethora of development challenges on the continent. This is because the current development ideologies reinforced in Africa, such as neo-liberalism, are racist, imperialistic and imbued with paternalism and white saviourism. Intrinsic development paradigms for African Development, however, ought to be cognisant of the existential peculiarities in contemporary Africa, such as ‘White Africanisation’ and embracing postmodern ethos. This chapter uses critical theory, de-colonial and post-colonial criticism to argue that despite the volatile and recalcitrant critiques of the Ubuntu African paradigm, the framework has remained indispensable in African Development debates. The chapter contends that the Ubuntu model for human well-being ought to be deconstructed and re-situated to align with the pertinent development sustainabilities such as ethical sustainability, gender sustainability, ecological sustainability and human rights sustainability.